And it went BOOM

Paul Endri

So relative newcomer to the metagame here, and my entire team is based on the idea of eventually being able to get in my copy of Pokemon Black, and I don't have an AR or any prior version and a DSi so I am fairly limited in that regard. The core of my team is based around Chandelure/Volcarona/Virizion. Not much more to say and this is also my first RMT so I guess I'll just jump into it.

starmie.png

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin

Fairly standard set for Starmie. Ice/Thunder for Coverage. Also my only electric attacker on the team, so the irony is indeed not lost on me. My Main counter to Dragon Types usually. Doesn't OHKO but can survive hits and if they lock themselves into outrage or something similiar, she tends to win out. Rapid Spin put in place of recover to do away with entry hazards which had been admittedly destroying me before.

ferrothorn.png

Ferrothorn (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 255 HP / 255 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Leach Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Thunderwave

The only wall on my team, serves to annoy more than anything. Stealth Rock goes out whenever possible, protect spam for the sake of being annoying, not much more. I like tossing him in on physical attackers that are almost dead, Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet are utter trolls. Leach Seed added to be annoying/last longer/benefit from while hiding under protect.

scizor.png

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 255 Atk / 255 HP
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Super Power
- U-turn

Possibly one of my hardest hitters against glass cannons. Bullet Punch is nice to have around, Pursuit are just kind of there in case they're needed, because CB says not much else is going to happen. U-Turn for scouting/being annoying. Superpower for revenge killing some of it's threats quite easily.

chandelure.png

Chandelure (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 255 SAtk / 255 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Energy Ball

Yeah, that coverage catches people off guard usually. Hits really hard and Choice Scarf means it's going to be outspeeding some of it's threats hitting them with Energy ball for a OHKO. Again considered CSpecs instead of Scarf but it's naturally atrocious speed doesn't lend itself well to being a relative Glass Cannon.

virizion.png

Virizion @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 255 Atk / 255 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stone Edge

Not exactly the bulky Virizion I see most people run, but I quite like it's natural speed as a nice way to counter Blissey Walls and any annoying water types that come with a vengeance to kill. Decent at revenge killing. The high speed + close combat renders it quite nice for taking out some walls.

volcarona.png

Volcarona (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Bug Buzz
- Flame Thrower
- Hurricane

Glass Cannon? I think So. Recently added Flame Thrower instead of Fire Blast 'cuz SHIT NEVER HITS. It's coverage is amazing I love the fact I've OHKO'd some mons that are resistant to fire w/ Fire Blast. It's a beast but glass cannon. I've tried replacing her many times but always ends up coming back because my attempts at replacing her don't seem to work out. Yes, I'm not running Quiver Dance. I just don't see the point if 90% of mons will be able to OHKO it. I never got a chance to set up as it is so really I think it's better off this way.

Again, I'm trying to limit myself to mons I can actually acquire in my copy of the game so it lowers my options substantially. Even then there's no one threat I can say is a sure counter, other than maybe Thundurus, but other than that I seem to be able to counter most threats on a 50/50 base and it all depends on whether or not I have the right mon alive at the time to counter w/e's thrown my way.
 
I don't want to change this into a bog standard team, so just a few tips for consideration:

While the Virizion concept is nice, it's way more effective with Life Orb. Unboosted moves off that average attack doesn't do much damage when neutral, and I doubt you come near to OHKOs or even 2HKOs with super effective moves.

Ferrothorn needs Leech Seed if it's running Rocky Helmet, it dies too soon otherwise. Your main goal is to probably switch that into a predicted Outrage. It's stuck for another turn or two so that's when you regain the health you're losing. It's best to place that over Toxic IMO.

Starmie is nice, but you might want to consider Rapid Spin on it over Recover. It's not helping that your team is very weak to hazards. That Spin in a pinch can save you for a Volcarona sweep.

Replace Hurricane on your Volacarona. You're better off with Hidden Power Rock (For Dragonite and neutral on Heatran) or Ground (Rapes Heatran and helps against Terrakion).
 
Actually, Virizion has done 97% to Blissey before (No Crits) and tends to OHKO quite often, I like leftovers over life orb because it's natural bulk lets it live for a few turns longer it's always nice to let someone with his spread live IMO

I like what you said about leech seed.

Volcarona... >_< I've run both HP Ground/Rock before and fact is HP ground is worthless because it's only real use (Heatran) is 9/10 times on it's balloon. Even now Hurricane isn't that useful, and I swap it occasionally for HP Rock. I need to make up my mind on that one, so I'll take it under consideration (+1 For HP Rock xD)
 
You've got 255evs on 5 of your pokemon. You're better of doing 2x252 and then 4 (like you've done with Volcarona). It's a small detail, but it all adds up.

One other thing, I'd only use 4 or 8 Speed EV's on Scizor and invest the rest into HP. Scizor has a low base speeb and won't be outspending much even with investment. Also, keeping it low allows you to u-turn second compared to other Scizors that may be speed creeping. This gives you the momentum in the match.
 
Hmm, and I /do/ mainly use bulletpunch on him which makes Speed EVs pointless, that is a damn good point. Thanks!

Anyone else?
 
I agree with the users above me about the 255 / 255 nonsense. Anyway, the first thing I noticed is that you have a Volcarona and no Rapid Spinner.

Replace Recover on Starmie with Rapid Spin. Starmie is a very good rapid spinner as it hits so hard with life orb and it almost forces people to bring in pokemon like Blissey, which can easily be rapid spinned on. The less survivability in exchange for rapid spin is an extremely good trade off for your team, since you have 2 fire types, one of which is 4x weak to Stealth Rock.

Now, your team basically looks like a rain team. I would suggest replacing Chandelure with a Choice Scarf Politoed, as that would set up weather, and function as a revenge killer.

Politoed (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Perish Song
- Hypnosis

Politoed would allow Virizion, ferrothorn, and scizor to take fire hits better. It would also let Starmie hit much harder with Hydro Pump. Perish Song can be used to stop set up attackers from sweeping you. Hypnosis sleeps common switch ins such as Rotom-W. Ice beam is for coverage, and Hydro Pump is the move you'll be using the most.

On Virizion, replace Stone Edge with Swords Dance. This would let Virizion function as an effective physical sweeper, along with having Hidden Power Ice for gliscor. Also, give it life orb over leftovers as the added power on something with only base 72 Atk is much appreciated.

On Ferrothorn, I would replace Toxic with Thunder Wave. This would let you hamper sweepers such as Thundurus and Terrakion on the switch. Also, replace Protect for Leech Seed in order to give Ferrothorn a method to heal itself, which is absolutely necessary.

Now that you have a rain team, a fire move on Volcarona is pretty silly.
Volcarona (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SAtk / 96 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Rest
- Hurricane

A resto-chesto set allows you to take status and damage and rest it right off. This thing can set up on most variants of Jirachi, and setup on Heatran barring Roar. Hurricane is your substitute for a fire move, and also hits Heatran harder, as well as Dragonite. Bug Buzz is your stab.
 
You might want to put Rapid Spin on Starmie, because Volcarona at 50% health may find it harder to set up. As far as move replacement, either T-Bolt (Water and Ice have good coverage), or Recover if you want to restore health.
 
i like the team but there are a few changes that need to be made. on scizor i wiuld get rid of quick attack for suerpower. with that he can kill ttar and excadrill. on starmie i would get rid of recover because when is he gonna get to do that for rapid spin because volcarona is killed by it. on volcarona instead of going with flamethrower or fire blast i would try fiery dance for stat raise. instead of hurricane on volcarona i would try hp ground for heatran which otherwise stops his sweep
 
If Fiery Dance was 100% +1, then maybe, but as it is the chance of a +1 isn't worth the damage trade off imo. Already added superpower for quick attack.

Rapin Spin's now on Starmie.

Not using Rain.

Minmin, SpD EVs on what?

Thanks everyone!
 
He probably means Scizor. It's probably useless to run that much Speed really as everything really sits above 236 in that range. You might wanna hit 191 for min speed Heatran, or lower to around 182 for Jellicent/Skarmory. Other than that it's normally better to run near min.

And if you're going to run Flamethrower on Volcarona, you don't miss out on much with Fiery Dance. Fire Blast however is a huge jump though.
 
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